World Poetry Day 2023; March 21st.

FORUM “Poetry for Life.” World Poetry Day 2023.

World Poetry Day, which takes place each year on March 21, was first declared by UNESCO during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard. 

EVENTS AND POETRY READINGS

Granada City of Literature in Spain leads the Cities of Literature World Poetry Day activity each year, and in 2023 their chosen theme is “Poetry for Life.” Granada’s celebrations commence with an opening ceremony at the City Hall central court, with the attendance of the City Mayor and other authorities from the cultural sphere where three poets will perform a poetry reading. This will be followed by 90 poets reading f in the gardens of the University of Granada Law School, 18 city bookstores and the long-running Poetry Slam Granada, in which 10 poets will compete to be judged the winner by public vote.

In all, a dozen of the 42 Cities of Literature are marking World Poetry Day with programs;

Dunedin, New Zealand: Dunedin has filmed performance poet David Eggleton, New Zealand Poet Laureate 2019-22, reading his iconic poem “What the future holds,” for sharing with our friends around the city, across the country and in other UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Durban, South Africa: Durban will celebrate with a short educational cartoon audio book compiled and written by Qap’s Mngadi and Artmatem Projects and Tradings Pty LTD that is based on true life issues that reflect peer pressure and teaches youth about the dangers of drugs.

Heidelberg, Germany: Heidelberg celebrates with a variety of events, embracing readings, poetry exhibitions and lectures organized by stakeholders such as the Heidelberg Forum for Arts, private initiatives and by writers from the city and the region.

Melbourne, Australia: Celebration includes an online video series with five poets from the cities of Heidelberg and Melbourne, to celebrate the culmination of a unique online writers room, Expedition Poetry.

Milan, Italy: Milan will hold several events between March 14-25 that feature poetry performances with poets and citizens, at Fondazione Mudima and at Triennale Milano.

Nanjing, China: Nanjing Literature Hall will receive a group of student visitors from special education institutes, Nanjing School for the Blind and Nanjing School for the Deaf for a shared poetry reading.

Nottingham, England: Nottingham Playhouse, Writing East Midlands and Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature join efforts for the project “Speak Easy for World Poetry Day,” a spoken world open mic night for young writers.

Seattle: Seattle City of Literature will celebrate by hosting bilingual readings in
Spanish and English according to the theme “Poetry for life.”

Tartu, Estonia: Tartu will celebrate with a diverse program that involves different venues, age groups and audiences. The celebrations begin with poetry performances by children and youth at Tartu Literature House, including members of Tartu Poetry Theatre carrying out poetry happenings in cafés and restaurants.

Wonju, South Korea: Wonju will celebrate with written poems and promotion on the Wonju city-run Facebook. The participants will be citizens from Wonju. Each participating citizen will contribute a poem of their own creation which will be illustrated by Wonju City of Literature posted between March 17-21.

¡Dale vida a la poesía con Poetry Out Loud!

World Poetry Day 2022; March 21st.

FORUM: "Supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression." World Poetry Day 2022.

On March 21st, we invite you to honour poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry, foster the convergence between poetry and other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and raise the visibility of poetry in the media.

Statement from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO for World Poetry Day, March 21st.

This is especially true for indigenous peoples, whose languages and cultures are increasingly under threat, in particular from industrial development, climate change andconflict. For these communities, poetry plays an important role in maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity, and preserving memory. The work of Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation and Poet Laureate of the United States, shows this clearly. Her poem Break My Heart describes her return to Okfuskee, Oklahoma, where her ancestors were violently uprooted and forced west under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. As she states so powerfully:“You cannot force poetryWith a ruler, or jail it at a desk [...]History will always find you, and wrap youIn its thousand arms.” 

Today, on World Poetry Day, UNESCO is shining the spotlight on indigenous poetry, to celebrate its unique and powerful role in standing against marginalization and injustice, and in uniting cultures in a spirit of solidarity.

This Day comes as the United Nations marks the start of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, led by UNESCO, to reaffirm the commitment of the international community in supporting indigenous peoples to preserve their cultures, knowledge and rights. As part of our efforts to safeguard living traditions, UNESCO has included a number of poetic forms on the Representative List of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity, such as the Hudhud chants of the Philippines, the Mapoyo oral tradition of Venezuela, the Eshuva, Harákmbut sung prayers of Peru, and the Koogere oral tradition of Uganda.Every form of poetry is unique, but each reflects the universal nature of the human experience – our aspiration for creativity that crosses all boundaries and borders. That is the power of poetry.

Director-General of UNESCO.

WEBINARS

- 2022 NY Poetry Out Loud State Final.

Encourage the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country.

Three cheers for the 2022 New York State Poetry Out Loud finalists! The Poetry Out Loud New York State Final showcases students from across the state reciting great classic and contemporary poetry. Their performances are scored on criteria such as voice and articulation and dramatic appropriateness by judges from the literary world. The winner of this event will go on to represent New York at the national level, where they will be among students from the 55 states and U.S. territories competing for the title of National Poetry Out Loud Champion. Poetry Out Loud is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation. In New York it is offered through the New York State Council on the Arts and Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

UNESCO - Ms Irina Bokova on the Occasion of World Poetry Day 2013

Poetry is one of the purest expressions of linguistic freedom. It is a component of the identity of peoples and it embodies the creative energy of culture, for it can be continuously renewed.

This power of poetry is transmitted from generation to generation, in the hallowed texts of great authors and in the works of anonymous poets. We are duty bound to transmit this heritage – the legacy of Homer, Li Bai,  Tagore, Senghor and countless others – for it bears living witness to the cultural diversity of humanity. We, in turn, must tend it to bear fruit, as a source of linguistic wealth and dialogue.

In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO wishes also to promote the values that poetry conveys, for poetry is a journey – not in a dream world, but often close to individual emotions, aspirations and hopes. Poetry gives form to the dreams of peoples and expresses their spirituality in the strongest terms --it emboldens all of us also to change the world.

Poets in all countries have bequeathed timeless verses in defence of human rights, gender equality and respect for cultural identities. Paul Eluard wrote “freedom ... I write thy name”

. To this day , poetry brings the winds of freedom and dignity in the struggle against violence and oppression. For all of these reasons, UNESCO supports poets and everyone who publishes, translates, prints or disseminates poetry. It does so by protecting the diversity of cultural expressions and by preserving poetry recitals listed as intangible cultural heritage of humanity , as many ways to embellish the world and construct the defences of peace in the minds of men and women.

Irina Bokova

UNESCO - Ms Irina Bokova on the Occasion of World Poetry Day 2013